Acquisitions of AI Vendors Bolstering Supply Chain Functionality in the PLM Market Is the New Norm

The hype around Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the new release of Chinese Large Language Model (LLM) DeepSeek-R1 has stolen headlines in 2025, momentarily taking the spotlight away from tangible deployments of AI and Generative AI (Gen AI) in the manufacturing space. AI developers, software providers, and end users are all talking about how these new technologies will revolutionize every facet of business; however, the practical aspect of how these models are entering the market and what functionally is achievable is missing. One of the largest impacts general AI and Gen AI have had on the manufacturing market is the level of integration into existing software such as Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), especially to improve supply chain management. This month alone has seen two major acquisitions of AI companies to bolster supply chain management in PLM solutions. Aptean, provider of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Warehouse Management System (WMS), and PLM solutions announced an agreement to purchase Logility on January 24, and Bamboo Rose, a specialized PLM provider offering services in the consumer-packaged goods and fashion industry, purchased Verteego on January 7.

PLM is a prime target for AI integration with software such as ENOVIA, Epicor PLM, Infor PLM, and Teamcenter, already having an established market ripe for AI innovation. The new additions of Aptean and Bamboo Rose reinforces the connection between production and supply chain improved by AI. PLM focuses on the entire lifecycle of a product from design conception to out-the-door delivery. Using AI in PLM software enables manufacturers to optimize PLM at both the starting phase of procurement and the back end of transportation logistics. PLM and AI solutions are integrating to provide manufacturers with multiple value-add use cases, with the most prominent being:

• Demand Planning: Forecast demand based on market trends and historical data to identify when peaks and troughs in sales will occur, so the purchasing of raw materials and third-party components is cheapest.
• Supplier Selection: Evaluating the supplier landscape for optimization of purchasing based on supplier location, price of goods, available quantity, and projected lead times.
• Inventory Optimization: Optimizing both the quantity and location of products to reduce warehouse overheads, avoid stockouts, and provide just-in-time inventory.
• Transportation Forecasting: Real-time accurate tracking of deliveries to and from the factory with AI predictions based on previous shipments, current events, and unforeseen impediments such as production halts.

Manufacturing software providers have been updating solutions to incorporate Gen AI for almost 2 years, with the earliest versions utilizing copilots running on common LLMs. Fast-forward to today, and manufacturing software providers are now routinely acquiring AI vendors to integrate capabilities directly into the software and develop new and innovative use cases. Looking at PLM software, leading providers have already made steps toward this goal; however, mainstream providers are now stepping up to the plate. Not only have Aptean and Bamboo Rose definitively agreed to purchase AI vendors, but companies such as Altium have finalized acquisitions in this space with the purchase of Milwaukee-based AI provider Part Analytics for its Altium 365 platform this month. The combination of PLM and AI vendors for supply chain optimization is not shocking; however, the speed at which acquisitions are happening in the market are. This is a focal point as manufacturing software providers have the choice to partner with AI providers and externally add features, but are instead choosing to focus on outright purchasing AI companies for application integration.

While there is a plethora of reasons why manufacturing software providers would opt to purchase AI providers such as restrictive regulations, data security, and developing proprietary use cases, it is evident the PLM market has shifted toward ownership over partnership. What manufacturers need to monitor with this change is how vendors such as Altium, Aptean, and Bamboo Rose will realize the gains of purchasing expensive AI companies to integrate with PLM. Based on current deployments, the most likely scenario will be pricing AI capabilities as add-on premium features that can be purchased if required. Alternatively, PLM vendors may hike up the base rate of subscriptions to cover the added cost of embedding AI into the software. Lastly, PLM vendors that offer cloud or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) deployments may incorporate pricing based on data usage, which would skyrocket prices with the deployment of AI. Given all of these scenarios, the unfortunate reality is that PLM software will not become any cheaper over the next couple of years.